Dental Care for Your Pet

Good dental hygiene and regular teeth cleanings can increase your pet's health, vitality, and well-being—and add additional years to his or her life. If left untreated, dental disease can not only be painful and inhibit proper nutrition, but it can also lead to serious systemic issues that may threaten your pet's health before symptoms are noticeable. For example, oral bacteria that enters the bloodstream can damage your pet's kidneys, heart, or liver.

Proper dental care not only prevents dental and systemic disease; it also helps minimize the lifetime cost of care for your pet.

At Chimacum Valley Veterinary Hospital and Pet Townsend Veterinary Clinic, our veterinarians take a comprehensive, patient-centric approach to dental care, starting with a complete oral examination followed by a thorough cleaning.

Your pet’s complete oral examination includes:

Oral examinations under anesthesia

Diagnosis and treatment of periodontal disease

Digital x-rays

Supra and subgingival scaling

Tooth extractions (when necessary/indicated)

Polishing

Irrigation

If your pet requires a tooth extraction, we provide “dental blocks,” for additional pain control. This is similar to techniques used in human dentistry, where local anesthesia is injected under the gums in addition to general anesthesia so that our patients wake up comfortably.

We offer digital dental radiology, which produces high-definition images of your pet's teeth. More accurate than traditional radiology, digital dental radiology produces clear images of the area below and above your pet's gum line in order to diagnose dental disease that cannot be seen by visual examination alone. This is a powerful tool for enabling the treatment of dental disease before it progresses and becomes more difficult and expensive to treat.

Should we find any issues, such as evidence of gum or tooth erosion, gingivitis, or excessive plaque buildup, we will discuss this with you along with treatment options. All of our veterinarians are experienced dental practitioners, capable of offering a number of dental procedures and oral surgeries.

Home Dental Care

While nothing can take the place of regular dental checkups and cleanings, ongoing follow-up oral care at home is just as important in controlling plaque and tartar formation.

The goal of home dental care is to remove plaque before it mineralizes into calculus (tartar), a process that occurs within days of a teeth cleaning. Brushing your pet's teeth is the single most important procedure you can do to maintain good oral health. If performed regularly, brushing dramatically decreases the incidence of gingivitis and increases the interval between teeth cleaning appointments.

Brushing your pet's teeth is best started at a young age (before adult teeth erupt). The younger the animal, the more likely he or she is to accept a teeth brushing regimen. Regular brushing not only keeps your pet's teeth clean and healthy; it also enhances the bond between you and your pet. If you are unsure about how to brush your pet's teeth, please ask a member of our staff. We are happy to instruct and/or demonstrate the best and easiest method. Also, please remember to always use toothpaste specifically made for pets (not people).

If brushing your pet's teeth is not possible, ask a staff member to help you select the most effective dental products for your pet.

The following symptoms are signs of poor oral health:

Persistent bad breath—one of the first signs of dental disease

Tartar or plaque buildup (ask your veterinarian how to identify them)

A yellowish-brown crust of plaque on the teeth near the gum line

Red and swollen gums

Pain or bleeding when your pet eats or when the mouth or gums are touched

Pawing at the mouth

Decreased appetite or difficulty eating

Loose or missing teeth

If you notice any of the above, please contact us to make a dental appointment for your pet.